>>> The tmux client for iPhone, iPad & Mac Babysit Your Agents. From Bed

Your tmux sessions and AI agents, on every screen. A fast, old-school tmux and SSH client for iPhone, iPad and Mac. SSH into your own server, attach to real tmux sessions, and see what Claude Code, Codex and Hermes are up to, wherever you are.

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[ iPhone ] [ iPad ] [ Mac ] [ tmux 3.0+ ] Built for tmux. Plain SSH shell included, for the servers that don't have it.

$ tmux attach -t agents● claude: needs you● codex: working● hermes: donedetach ≠ killreboot → agents resume^C actually reaches the program80 × 24 minimumssh-keygen -t ed25519 (on your phone)tmux 3.0a → 3.7ciPhone · iPad · Mac⌘↑ back to your last commandno account · no cloud of ours $ tmux attach -t agents● claude: needs you● codex: working● hermes: donedetach ≠ killreboot → agents resume^C actually reaches the program80 × 24 minimumssh-keygen -t ed25519 (on your phone)tmux 3.0a → 3.7ciPhone · iPad · Mac⌘↑ back to your last commandno account · no cloud of ours

RETRO TMUX is a tmux client for iPhone, iPad and Mac. It connects to your own server over SSH, attaches to your real tmux sessions, and shows whether AI coding agents like Claude Code, Codex and Hermes are working, done, or waiting for you. Your sessions keep running on the server when you close the app.

story.txt— less —[ 1/1 ]

THE STORY

RETRO TMUX is for people who barely sleep, have strong opinions about monospace fonts, and somehow feel more at home in a terminal than in actual sunlight.

A fast, old-school TMUX client wrapped in glorious retro hacker aesthetics — because managing servers from your phone shouldn't feel like doing your taxes.

SSH in. Split panes. Break things remotely. Fix them before anyone notices.

No glossy corporate nonsense. No productivity buzzwords. Just terminals, sessions, blinking cursors, questionable sleep schedules, and the comforting feeling that somewhere, something is compiling.

Built for developers, sysadmins, terminal addicts, homelab goblins, and anyone who has ever said:

“I’ll just SSH in for five minutes.”

Three hours ago.

0sessions lost when the server reboots. Your agents come back and carry on

3AI agents watched for you: Claude Code, Codex and Hermes

1 tapfrom your pocket to your agent's window. No typing tmux attach with your thumbs

4states you see without attaching: working, needs you, done, idle

// The uplink //

Your Pocket, Wired To Your Server

One SSH connection from your phone, tablet or Mac to your own server. On the other end: your tmux sessions, your agents, and everything they're doing, flowing back to you.

// Made for AI agents //

Know What Your Agents Are Up To

Run Claude Code or Codex on your server, check on it from your iPhone, iPad or Mac. RETRO TMUX spots Claude Code, Codex and Hermes in your tmux sessions and tells you what they're doing. So you can stop attaching to every session like a nervous parent checking on a sleeping baby.

>>> SESSIONS203.0.113.7

CLAUDE USAGE 42%read 2m ago

Live state in the session list and in the terminal tabs: working, needs you, done, idle.
Claude and Codex usage, 5-hour and weekly, with how old the reading is.
One switch installs small, reversible helper scripts on your server. They update themselves with the app and never downgrade. No agent, no noise.
Only what matters makes a sound: a real approval prompt and finished work. Everything else stays quiet.
Attach lands on the agent's window, not a random one.
The keyboard borrows rows, never columns: the width stays put, so agent output doesn't reflow.

> How to use Claude Code on your iPhone → · Codex on your iPhone →

// Lock screen + Dynamic Island //

Answer Your Agents From The Lock Screen

Claude wants to run a migration. You're in a queue for coffee. The phone buzzes with the actual request: Approve, Deny, or Reply with a typed answer. Tap one and it reaches the agent within seconds. The app can be closed and the phone locked. Works for Claude Code, Codex and Hermes.

A push the moment an agent needs you, with Approve and Deny right on the notification.
The real request, not "your agent needs your attention".
Relay down? The answer goes over SSH instead. The relay is ours by default, or host your own.
Already in another session? An in-app alert tells you which agent is waiting.
The Dynamic Island and the lock screen: one live card per agent window, updated as it works. Never a pile of cards.
Approve, Deny or Reply without unlocking. The agent's own prompt stays in the terminal too, so you can answer there instead.

12 MIN

Claude needs youagents · RETRO TMUX

Run the migration against the production database, or use staging?

ApproveDenyReply

Thursday 24 September

9:41

RETRO TMUXagents

Claude CodeWORKING · 12 MIN

Edit · db/migrate/002_orders.sql

Approve, Deny and Reply: on the notification, the lock screen and the Dynamic Island

RETRO TMUX on a locked iPhone: a Live Activity card says Codex NEEDS YOU to run npx prisma migrate deploy, with Approve and Deny buttons — **Lock screen** · Codex needs you

The same request inside the terminal: Codex in the db-migrate session asking to run npx prisma migrate deploy — **Terminal** · same prompt, here too

// Reboot-proof //

Server Rebooted? Agents Didn't Notice

tmux keeps your work alive when you disconnect, but a reboot wipes it: every session, every agent, gone mid-task. Not with RETRO TMUX. When the server comes back, your agent sessions come back too, and Claude Code, Codex and Hermes carry on with the work they were doing. Automatically, while you sleep.

Agent sessions are brought back after a reboot, on their own.
Windows, panes and folders come back with them.
Each agent restarts and resumes the same conversation, right where it stopped.
No app open, no tap, no you. Kernel update at 4am? Fine.
Works for Claude Code, Codex and Hermes.
Offered as one tap when you add a server.

boot.log— tail —[ 04:12 ]

04:07 reboot: kernel update

04:11 server is back up

04:12 restoring agent sessions…

04:12 agents claude resumed

04:12 api codex resumed

04:12 ops hermes resumed

08:30 you wake up. nothing happened.

// tmux, done properly //

A tmux Client. Not An SSH App With A Sticker

RETRO TMUX is a real tmux client, not just a plain SSH terminal (though it does that too). With plain SSH, your work only lives as long as the connection: close the laptop or lose signal and whatever was running dies. With tmux, your sessions live on your server. Close the app, lose signal, drop your phone down the stairs: nothing gets killed. Come back from any device and everything is where you left it.

plain SSH

You close the laptop lidYour agent is killed
Signal drops on the trainTask gone, start again
You switch to your phoneNew shell, empty screen

SSH + tmux

You close the laptop lidIt keeps working
Signal drops on the trainReconnect, history intact
You switch to your phoneAttach, pick up mid-sentence

Back to your agent

Any SSH app

01open the app
02pick the host
03connect
04tmux ls
05tmux attach -t agents
06find the window

6 steps

RETRO TMUX

01tap the session

1 tap

Attach. Detach. Come Back.

Detaching never kills a session. Your agents keep going while you go outside, allegedly.

Your Laptop Never Knows

The app attaches through its own view session, then puts window sizes, mouse settings and layout back when it leaves. Your desktop tmux stays untouched.

Exact History

tmux control mode delivers every line once, in order, including what happened before you attached. No gaps, no duplicates, no vibes.

Windows & Panes

New window, switch window, split, close split, show all panes. On iPad, panes sit side by side exactly like tmux lays them out. Double-tap to zoom.

3.0a → 3.7c

The app probes your server's tmux and falls back to a normal attach when control mode isn't there. Still tmux. Never a bare shell.

Session Tabs

Jump between sessions on the same server from inside the terminal, without going back to the list. Create and kill sessions from the phone, too.

> New to tmux? The tmux cheat sheet →

// A real terminal //

A Keyboard That Knows What Ctrl Is

Phone keyboards were built for texting your mum. This SSH client and terminal was built for ^C: with its own retro keyboard on iPhone and iPad, and with yours on the Mac.

Never fewer than 80 columns, and 24 rows in portrait.
Fit-width by default, pinch to zoom, two-finger double-tap to reset.
Finger scrolling everywhere, even inside htop, vim and Claude Code.
Full-screen apps render properly, history kept.
Select text with handles, copy. Tap links to open or copy, like the sign-in link Claude Code or Codex prints.
Unicode, wide characters, international keyboards.
Retro keyboard in the DOS font, laid out exactly like Apple's, plus the terminal key row: Esc, Tab, Ctrl, Alt, arrows, F1–F12.
Sticky Ctrl, key repeat, long-press alternates.
Ctrl-C that actually reaches the program, including Claude Code.
Full desktop layout on iPad. System keyboard one tap away for dictation.
On the Mac, your whole hardware keyboard: every Ctrl key reaches your programs, and Option works as Meta when you want it.
Command bookmarks: a small amber mark under the start of every command you typed, so the last thing you ran is easy to find in a long scroll. Jump command to command, ⌘↑ / ⌘↓ on the Mac.
Protected pastes on every tmux version: a multi-line paste never runs a line before you press Enter. Big pastes arrive fast and complete.
Wi-Fi to cellular, or a dropped link: it reconnects quietly and puts you back in the window you were in. Typing never duplicates or loses a key, even across the drop.
Upload a file or photo over SFTP, or drag one in from Finder on the Mac; its server path lands at the cursor.
Port forwarding that finds itself: it lists what's listening on the server, one tap opens it in your browser, on the phone or the Mac. So does a localhost link an agent prints.
The terminal bell rings on the phone, as a local alert.

// iPhone + iPad + Mac //

One App. Every Screen Size

Use tmux on iPhone and iPad from the same app, and on the Mac from a native one (explained: SSH on iPhone, SSH on iPad, tmux on Mac). Everything scales from the window it's in. Split View, Stage Manager, rotation. No fixed layouts, no letterboxing, no "iPad version coming soon".

RETRO TMUX on iPhone: two tmux sessions, one running Hermes and one running Claude, with the window picker open

RETRO TMUX on iPhone: Claude Code running inside a tmux session, with the retro keyboard

RETRO TMUX on iPad: Codex in the top pane and two shell panes side by side, with the full retro keyboard

One app for iPhone and iPad, a native app for the Mac, one subscription for all of them.
Your hosts and settings follow you between them through your own iCloud.
Side-by-side panes on iPad, scrolling each on its own, even with the keyboard up.
Rotate all you like: history and your place stay put.
Dynamic Type, VoiceOver labels, Reduce Motion respected.

// Mac //

Same Agents. Bigger Screen

A native Mac app (macOS 14 or later) with a sidebar of servers and sessions and a tab for every tmux window. The one you leave open next to your editor, and the one that taps you on the shoulder when an agent needs you.

RETRO TMUX for Mac: a sidebar of hosts and sessions with WORKING, NEEDS YOU and DONE badges, and Claude Code working in a tab of the api session

Sidebar + Tabs

Servers and sessions down the side, every tmux window a tab. ⌘T new tab, ⇧⌘] ⇧⌘[ to switch, ⌘F to find, ⌘, for settings. Your fingers already know it.

Your Keyboard. All Of It

Every Ctrl key reaches your programs. Option works as Meta when you want it. In every sheet, Return confirms and Esc cancels.

A Tap On The Shoulder

A Mac notification when an agent needs you or finishes while you're in another app. Click it and you're in that agent's window, not hunting for it.

Drag. Drop. Uploaded

Drag files from Finder onto the terminal. They land in the folder the terminal is in, and the path is typed for you.

Ports, In Your Browser

The web app your agent just started opens in your browser in one click. No SSH tunnel incantations.

The Guy Says Hi

The phosphor-dot hero from this page greets you on first launch. Three steps later you're looking at your sessions.

RETRO TMUX for Mac, first run: the phosphor-dot hero and Get started in 3 steps: add a server, sign in with a key, open your sessions — **First run** · three steps to your sessions

RETRO TMUX for Mac: the sessions on prod-web with agent badges, Claude usage and a PORTS button — **Host page** · every session, every agent

// Files, on the Mac //

A File Manager That Starts Where You Are

Open it from the toolbar and it's already in the folder your terminal is in. Over SFTP, on your own server. No plugin, no second app, no scp from memory.

Drag files in and out with Finder.
Rename, create folders, copy and move on the server.
Delete with a clear confirmation, so "oops" stays a word and not a directory.
Open a terminal in any folder.

RETRO TMUX file manager on the Mac: the api folder on prod-web, files dropped in from Finder, and uploads and downloads in progress

RETRO TMUX file manager on the Mac: folders and files of the api project, with Open Terminal Here and Open in VS Code in the toolbar

// Your editor, their server //

Open In VS Code. Or Anything Else

Open the folder in VS Code or Cursor straight on the server (Remote-SSH). Or edit any remote file in your favourite Mac editor: every save goes back to the server, with protection against overwriting someone else's change.

// Sync //

Add A Server Once. Find It Everywhere

Your hosts and settings follow you between iPhone, iPad and Mac through your own private iCloud. Not through us: we don't have a server for that, and we'd like to keep it that way.

Hosts and settings sync through your private iCloud.
SSH keys stay on each device, unless you choose to sync them with iCloud Keychain.
Add a server on the Mac, open it on the phone in bed. Tradition.

RETRO TMUX for Mac, Settings, Sync: sync hosts and settings on through your private iCloud, sync SSH keys off

// The look //

Looks Like 1987. Works Like Now

A retro CRT terminal for iOS: near-black screens, phosphor green, CRT scanlines, bracket-cornered buttons and a DOS font on every single screen. One design vocabulary, enforced by an automated audit, because we have problems.

CRT launch intro: a beam ignites and opens the emblem in 1.6 seconds. Tap to skip.
Boot overlay while a slow link connects. Cancel after five seconds.
Pixel-exact box art and progress bars, because half-drawn boxes are a crime.
Pick your text colour and font size.
Voice cues when a session opens and detaches.

// Secure by being boring //

No Account. Keys Stay Home. No Nonsense

Your SSH session goes from your device to your server. That's it. No sign-up, and your keys never touch anything of ours. The only thing that passes a relay is the "agent needs you" push, and you can run that relay yourself.

SSH with a password or a key.
Generate an Ed25519 key on the device, install it with your password once, use the key forever.
Import OpenSSH or PEM keys (Ed25519, ECDSA, RSA) from Files, iCloud Drive or AirDrop.
Encrypted keys ask for the passphrase only when needed.
Keys and passwords stay in your device's Keychain. With sync on, hosts and settings travel through your own iCloud; keys stay put unless you choose iCloud Keychain.
On iPhone, Face ID locks the whole app, so an unlocked phone isn't an open door to your servers.
Unknown or changed host keys are shown to you to verify or cancel.
TEST SSH before saving a host, with a guided Key → Server → Test setup and a copy-paste install command.
Change a host's user, address or port and the app walks you through signing in again. No dead ends.
tmux missing on the server? One tap installs it.

// Reliability //

Boring On Purpose

Every successful action shows you an outcome. Every failure leaves you a way back.

Copy is never confused with Interrupt. Disconnect never kills a session.

Tested live against four tmux versions on a real server, on every build.

Light on the battery: the session list refreshes every 5 seconds only while an agent is active, every 20 otherwise.

// Pricing //

One Subscription. iPhone, iPad And Mac

One subscription covers all your Apple devices. The free trial doesn't start until you've actually connected to a server, so the clock doesn't run while you argue with your firewall.

MONTHLY$4.99per month

YEARLY SAVE 33%$39.99per year · $3.33 a month

7-day free trial, starting after your first successful connection.
iPhone, iPad and Mac on one subscription (Universal Purchase).
Family Sharing included.
Still no account and no sign-up. The apps talk only to your server.

RETRO TMUX for Mac after the first connection: Try RETRO TMUX free for 7 days, yearly $39.99 or monthly $4.99, Family Sharing included

// Roadmap //

Coming Soon. Probably

Things we're building next. Not shipped yet, so we're not pretending otherwise.

COMING SOONA Windows app, with the same features.
COMING SOONA Linux app, with the same features.
LATERAndroid.

Crossed off this list already: the Dynamic Island and Reply, sync between devices, the Mac app, and a file browser. Look at us.

// FAQ //

Questions You Were Going To Ask Anyway

Can I use tmux on my iPhone, iPad or Mac?

Yes, that's the whole point. RETRO TMUX connects to your server over SSH and attaches to its real tmux sessions, so you get your sessions, windows and panes on iPhone and iPad, and in a native app on the Mac. On iPad, panes sit side by side exactly like tmux lays them out; on the Mac, every tmux window is a tab.

Is there a Mac app?

Yes. A native macOS app (macOS 14 or later) with a sidebar of servers and sessions, a tab for every tmux window, standard Mac shortcuts, a file manager, Mac notifications that jump straight to the agent, and Open in VS Code or Cursor. One subscription covers it along with your iPhone and iPad.

How much does it cost?

$4.99 a month or $39.99 a year, with a 7-day free trial that starts after your first successful connection to a server. One subscription covers iPhone, iPad and Mac, and Family Sharing is included. Still no account and no sign-up.

Can I run Claude Code from my iPhone?

Run Claude Code (or Codex) inside tmux on your server, then attach from RETRO TMUX. You see whether it's working, needs you, done or idle, usage included, your phone buzzes when it needs you, and you can approve it, deny it or reply from the lock screen. Or type to it with a keyboard that has a real Ctrl and Esc.

Is it a good SSH client for iPad?

If you live in tmux, yes: keys stay in the Keychain, panes sit side by side, and there's a keyboard laid out like Apple's with Esc, Tab, Ctrl and F1–F12 on top. And for a server without tmux, it opens a plain SSH shell too.

Do I need tmux on my server?

For the good parts, yes: tmux 3.0 or newer gets you sessions that survive, windows, split panes and agent status. tmux missing? One tap installs it. A server without tmux still works as a Plain shell host: an ordinary SSH login, minus all of that.

Can I use it as a plain SSH terminal?

Yes. When you add a host, pick Plain shell instead of tmux sessions and you get a normal SSH login shell. The honest fine print: no sessions that survive, no windows, no agent detection, and a dropped connection takes the shell with it. That's what tmux is for.

Can I upload files or screenshots to my server?

Yes. On iPhone and iPad, tap UPLOAD in the ⋯ key panel to pick files from Files or Photos, or paste a file or image into the terminal. On the Mac, drag files from Finder onto the terminal. Either way it goes over SFTP into the folder your terminal is in (under retro-uploads, unless you switch that off), and the file's full server path is typed at the cursor, safely quoted. Handy for giving Claude Code or Codex a screenshot to look at.

Can I browse and edit files on the server?

On the Mac, yes. The file manager opens over SFTP in the folder your terminal is in: drag files in and out with Finder, rename, create folders, copy and move on the server, delete with a clear confirmation, and open a terminal in any folder. Or open the folder in VS Code or Cursor (Remote-SSH), or edit any remote file in your own Mac editor: every save goes back to the server, with protection against overwriting someone else's change.

Do my servers sync between iPhone, iPad and Mac?

Yes. Your hosts and settings follow you through your own private iCloud, not through us. Your SSH keys stay on each device unless you choose to sync them with iCloud Keychain.

What happens to my agents if the server reboots?

They come back. When the server is up again, RETRO TMUX brings your sessions, windows, panes and folders back, restarts Claude Code, Codex or Hermes, and they resume the same conversation. It's automatic: you don't need to open the app. It's offered as one tap when you add a server.

Where do my keys and passwords go?

Into your device's Keychain. There's no account, and your SSH session goes straight to your server. With sync on, hosts and settings travel through your own private iCloud; keys stay on each device unless you choose iCloud Keychain. Only agent push alerts use a relay, and you can host that yourself.

Will it mess up my desktop tmux?

No. It attaches through its own view session and restores window sizes, mouse settings and layout when it leaves.

Which agents does it understand?

Claude Code, Codex and Hermes. It shows whether each one is working, needs you, is done or is idle, pings you when one needs you, and shows Claude and Codex usage (5-hour and weekly). Hermes keeps no usage on disk, so there's nothing to show for it.

What does the agent switch install on my server?

Small, reversible helper scripts that report agent state. They update themselves with the app and never downgrade. Turn the switch off and they're gone. When no agent is detected, nothing is shown.

Does it work with a hardware keyboard?

On the Mac, completely: every Ctrl key reaches your programs, and Option works as Meta when you want it. On iPad it's built for it too: the on-screen keyboard steps aside and the key row stays. Tell us if your keyboard misbehaves.

Is there an Android, Windows or Linux version?

Windows and Linux apps are coming soon. Android is on the list for later. Today it's iPhone, iPad and Mac.

Which tmux versions?

3.0a through 3.7c. We test 3.0a, 3.2a, 3.4 and 3.7c live on a real server on every build.

>>> READY WHEN YOU ARE

ssh you@future

Join the beta. We'll let you know when there's a build to break.

+ JOIN THE BETA